Buckle



1935- J. B. FREYSINGER Q 3 BUCKLE Filed 001;. 19, 1932 John B. Fre ysinger Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE BUCKLE Application October 19, 1932, Serial No. 638,504

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to buckles, and especially to buckles adapted to be used on the straps of conveyors, such as those employed in harvesters and similar farming implements.

Buckles of this kind are constrained to pass over pulleys, and the straps'used in connection therewith are placed under great pulling strains which cause the teeth of the buckle to bite into the strap. Heretofora'the front cross bar of the buckle which cooperates with the teeth of the buckle in holding the free end .of the strap in place has been disposed close to the sharp ends of the teeth so that, in effect, this front cross bar acts as an anvil upon which one face of the strap is held while the teeth of the buckle pierce the opposite face of the strap and cut the fibers.

of the material from which the strap is made.

This cutting of the strap weakens it and the strap soon breaks under the strain placed upon it under ordinary usage. 'The machine is then forced to be idle while a new strap is put on and the straps themselves are costly.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above noted disadvantages, and with this thought in mind the present invention contemplates the provision of a front cross bar for the buckle which is provided with a plurality of recesses or notches disposed opposite to the teeth on the clamping plate of the buckle. "-'Il1e provision of these recesses or notches forms spaces between the front cross bar and the adjacent face of the strap opposite the teeth on the clamping plate. This arrangement will permit the teeth to push aside the fibers of the material from which the strap is made, without cutting the same and thereby mutilating and weakening the strap. I

A further object of this invention is to provide a buckle of this kind which comprises few parts, is simple in construction, is strong and may be cheaply manufactured.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be 50 indicated in the appended claim. 7

In the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown one embodiment which the present invention may take,

proved buckle attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the free end of the strap removed;

. Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and 5 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my improved buckle frame.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, my improved buckle comprises a frame generally designated A upon which is pivotally mounted 10 a clamping plate B adapted to cooperate with the frame A to grip the. free end portion X of a strap therebetween. An attaching clip C is also pivotally mounted upon the frame A and is adapted to have secured thereto the other end 15 Y of the strap. A retaining loop D for the free end of the strap is provided and may be formed integral with the frame A.

The frame A includes a front bar It], a rear bar it spaced from, and parallel with, said front 20 bar it, and parallel spaced apart side bars 12 joining said front and rear bars together to form a substantially rectangular open frame.

The clamping plate B is pivotally carried by the rear bar ll of the member A so that it has swinging movement towards and from said member A with which it is adapted to cooperate to securely clamp therebetween the free end portion X of the strap in the desired adjusted position. The clamping plate B may be stamped from a blank of sheet metal and has. a substantially rectangular body portion [5 provided with a reduced rear end portion [6 which is rolled upon itself to form a knuckle by means of which the plate is pivotally secured to the rear bar H of the member A. The forward edge of the body portion E5 of the plate B is provided with a set of teeth ll which are blunt and extend from the forward edge of, and'in substantially the same plane as, the body portion IS. The points of the teeth I? terminate substantially at the inner side of the bar In of the member A. A second set of teeth is also extend from the forward edge of the body portion l5 and are interposed between certain of the teeth il'. However, the teeth iii are longer than the teeth I! and are bent upwardly at an angle to the body portion 1 5 I of the plate B. In order to provide sharp points to penetrate the strap, the tops of the teeth H3 at their free ends are beveled, as at I 9. To limit the movement of the plate 13 toward the member A, the body portion l5 of the plate B is provided, at each side rearwardly of the teeth I! and IS, with an upwardly inclined ear 28 adapted to seat upon its respective side bar I2 55 of the member A when the plate B is in its lowermost position. Between the ears 2!], and rearwardly of the teeth I! and !8, the body portion of the plate B is provided with a transversely extending rib 2| which imparts strength and rigidity to the plate in that region thereof which receives the maximum stresses and strains when the device is in use.

It will be noted that the teeth I? are substantially V-shaped and the front bar I0 of the frame A is provided with a plurality of V-shaped recesses or notches 22. These recesses 22 are formed in the inner side and upper and lower faces of the bar it and each one of the recesses is disposed opposite to a corresponding tooth IT on the clamping plate B. It will be observed that the outerside of the bar I0 is provided with enlarged portions 23 disposed opposite to the recesses 22 so that the strength of the bar Ii] will not be impaired by the formation of the recesses 22 therein. It is apparent from Figs. 2, 3, and 4 that, due to the provision of these notches 22, when the portion X of the strap is in place between the clamping plate there is provided in the front bar I l! opposite the point of each tooth H a space, which spaces accommodate those portions of the strap end X which are engaged by the points of the respective teeth I 1 so that these portions of the strap do not contact the front bar Ill. Since these portions of the strap do not bear against the bar Iii, but are received by the recesses 22, there will be no cutting of the fibers of the material from which the strap is made. On the other hand, the fibers of the strap material will merely be forced apart by the penetrating ends of the teeth [1. The teeth 18 are curved upwardly so that they pierce a portion of the strap which is disposed above the bar H), as is clearly seen in Fig. 2, and hence there is likewise no cutting of the strap fibers by the teeth I8.

The attaching clip C is preferably made from sheet metal and is substantially U-shape. The closed end portion of the U-shaped clip C is provided with a pair of spaced apart knuckles 2d embracing the rear bar ll of the frame A and by means of which the clip C has a pivotal mounting upon the frame A. The closed end of the clip C has, between its knuckles 24, a recess 25 which receives the reduced end portion 16 of the plate B, and the knuckles 24 straddle the reduced end portion iii of the plate B, whereby the plate B is held against substantial lateral shifting so that the teeth I! will always be maintained in registry with their respective recesses 22 of the bar Hi. The legs of the U-shaped clip C are adapted to receive and house therebetween the end Y of the strap. Suitable aligned openings are provided in the clip C to receive rivets 26 or other fastening devices to hold the end Y of the strap in place between the legs of the clip. The loop D may be formed integral with the frame A and comprises a pair of parallel arms 2'! mounted on the frame A and a bar 28 supported by the arms 27. The bar 28 is parallel to the bar l I of the frame A and cooperates with the bar II to hold the free end X of the strap in place after it has been passed upwardly between the bar Ill and the clamping plate.

The operation-of the device is as follows: Assuming that the end Yof the strap has been properly secured to the clip C, as described above, and it is desired to adjust and secure the strap around the pulleys of a conveyor (not shown) the free end X of the strap is threaded under the bar H3 and upwardly through the frame member A against the teeth I! and I8 over the body portion l5 of the plate B and then threaded through the loop D. The teeth I! may be pushed firmly against the strap, and the teeth l8 may be forced firmly and securely into the strap by exerting a downward pressure on the ears 20 of the plate B.

The long sharp teeth [8 will pass completely through and beyond the strap, and the blunt short teeth I! will embed themselves in the material of the strap by pushing aside the fibers of the material of the strap. As pointed out above, each tooth I1 is disposed opposite a corresponding recess 22 in the bar lil so that the portions of the strap opposite to that engaged by the teeth I! are not forced against the bar In by the teeth I! and thereby have its fibers cut by further pressure of the teeth IT. The recesses 22 of the bar l0 receive these portions of the strap and the teeth I! merely push aside the fibers of the material of the strap so that when the teeth I! are withdrawn from the strap these pushed aside fibers may return to their original position and the strap is not mutilated or weakened. It is thus apparent that the life of the strap is prolonged and that shut downs of the machinery caused by strap breakage are greatly lessened, thereby ell'ecting considerable saving in time and money.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

In a buckle for straps, a frame having across bar and a front bar of circular cross section, said front bar being provided on its inner edge with a plurality of spaced apart recesses and a reinforcing enlarged portion on its outer edge in alignment with each recess, and a clamping plate of sheet metal pivotally mounted on said cross bar and having along its free edge a plurality of pointed long teeth adapted to extend over said front bar between said recesses, said plate also having a plurality of pointed short teeth alternating with said long teeth, the respective short teeth and recesses being complementary in shape and disposed in spaced apart relation and opposite one another and in substantially the same plane when the said plate is in clamping position.

JOHN B. FREYSINGER. 

